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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker [message #351574] Tue, 29 August 2017 02:00
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bladeslingerreviews:

After the success of both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, Zelda fans where of course excited to see what was next for the series. However, seeing as how the N64’s life cycle was coming to an end, the next game in the series was most likely going to be for the upcoming Gamecube. As such it was going to be awhile before we got another console entry in the series. That being said though, it wasn’t long before we saw Link again. At Nintendo’s showcase at Space World 2000, they had a little tech demo showing off what the Gamecube hardware could do and one of the clips had Link crossing blades with Ganondorf. It was a really cool image and fans took it as a sign of what the next game would look like despite the fact that it was never intended to be a full game…..then again every other clip they showed became a game so it wasn’t too unreasonable to assume that that clip wouldn’t become one as well.

Eventually fans got word that a new game in the series would be formally announced the following year and got really excited for what was shaping up to be the most epic game yet…..then they saw this bright, colorful, cartoony and frankly kind of silly looking image of Link……the hell? Needless to say, people weren’t really pleased with the new art direction and looking back on the series in retrospect, I can sort of see why. Though I never really cared for either of the N64 games, what I did like about them was how mature the stories where. People took them seriously because the games took their audience seriously. A lot of people took this silly looking image of Link as an indication that Nintendo was turning the series into a game solely for kids and got really upset because of that. There were even petitions going around demanding that Nintendo drop the current build and go back to the art style of the previous games. However, Miyamoto and his team held firm on the choice but made the wise decision to not show anymore of the game until they had a playable demo ready.

When that playable demo dropped, people started to get excited about the game when they realized that while the game looked different, it was still a Zelda game at the end of the day…….but there were still a bunch of people who refused to even try the game because of how it looked. As a result, when the game finally released, it didn’t sell as well as Nintendo was hoping despite breaking pre order records……yeah…..figure that one out. Regardless, the game was still a success at retail and was adored by critics the world over.

I stated in my Ocarina of Time review that Wind Waker is my favorite game in the series and almost a decade after it’s release, it still is. I love everything about this game and I notice something new every time I play it. Hell, when I eventually went back to the previous games in the series, all that did was make me grow a greater appreciation for Wind Waker. However, it’s been awhile since I have played this. Is it really as good as I remember or is my nostalgia getting the better of me? I hope not because that would make me a hypocrite. 

Story

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is where the Zelda timeline get’s really confusing. Wind Waker establishes that the Zelda series operates on Multiverse theory as opposed to a fixed timeline. So at the end of Ocarina of Time, two separate timelines were created: One where Link is sent back in time to live the seven years of his life he missed, which is where Majora’s Mask picks up and the timeline Link left behind, which is where Wind Waker picks up. Yeah, you think that’s confusing, there is suppose to be a third timeline that starts should Link die at any point Ocarina of Time, which is apparently where the original three games pick up. So basically Wind Waker is a sequel to Ocarina of Time that takes place in a timeline where Majora’s Mask never took place.

Getting to the game’s actual story, it opens with a little recap of the events of Ocarina of Time through the use of what appears to be a manuscript. After Link defeated Ganon, the story of his journey through time was passed down through the generations and eventually became known as the legend of the Hero of Time. However, before long Ganon slowly started to return and because Zelda deleted Link from the timeline, there was no who could fight him. The people of Hyrule prayed to the gods to save them but no help ever came, leaving the kingdom to an unknown fate. The game picks up thousands of years later on vast ocean known as the Great Sea. No one is really sure what happened to Hyrule but the Legend of the Hero of Time survived and is held in high regard across the sea. On the Island of Outset, the people treasure the story so much that when young boys come of age, they are to dressed in clothes similar to the Hero of Time as a means to inspire bravery as they move into adulthood. You take the role of one such boy who has just come of age and soon takes the shape of a new Link. However, Link’s big day takes a dark turn when Pirates sail towards the island in pursuit of a giant bird who kidnapped their captain. They manage to shoot it down, causing their captain, a woman by the name of Tetra, to fall into the woods on the island. Link and his sister, Aryel go to help but the bird returns and kidnaps Aryel, mistaking her for Tetra. Feeling guilty for this, Tetra agrees to take Link to the Bird’s nest at a place called the Forsaken Fortress. He attempts to break in but soon finds that he is in over his head when it is revealed that the bird is under the control of Ganon, who promptly launches Link into the ocean. Thankfully, Link is saved from a watery grave by a talking boat known as the King of Red Lions, who confirms that despite Link’s noble intentions, his attack on the Forsaken Fortress was beyond stupid. However, he acknowledges Link’s brave and noble nature and agrees to help him gather the means he needs to defeat Ganon and save his sister.

There is a lot I like about the story Wind Waker. For starters, it is expertly told. I love the intro to this game and how it’s told visually through a manuscript. It’s got a sense of wonder, a sense of triumph and a sense of dread as we learn of the demise of Hyrule and are left with no answers as to what exactly happened. From there the game follows the standard formula used to tell an epic story. You got the average joe being called to action, being paired up with a wise mentor and then undertaking a great quest to save the world from a great evil. The pacing is excellent, there are lots of heavy moments and it’s got a great twist midway through the game that first timers will not see coming. It also improves on the problems I had with the story in Ocarina of Time. Though I liked the story of OoT, it always felt segmented to me. It was like the story just paused to allow Link to gather what he needs and then only picks up when it’s time to face Ganon. In Wind Waker, every trail feels like it’s own stand alone adventure and that leads the game to feel like an odyssey. It actually kind of reminds me action adventure shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Samurai Jack. Every episode might not be important to the plot but each episode is entertaining and it gives us time to get to know the characters by seeing them deal with different situations.

The other thing it improves upon are the characters, especially in regards to Link’s character. While he still doesn’t talk, you actually get a nice sense of his character that develops over the course of the game whereas the previous Link’s all had the personality of a piece of wood. At the start he’s lazy, impulsive and frankly kind of dumb***. I’m sure he wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice to fight Ganon but the reason the King of Red Lions picks him to do so is because at the end of the day, he was the only one who had the balls to stand up to Ganon. After Aryel is kidnapped, we learn that Link’s sister wasn’t the first girl to be kidnapped and later down the line, we learn that Link was the only one brave enough to go after them. Not only that, Link is willing to put himself through hell to save his sister and later the whole world. Through his hardships he earns the tools, skills and experience to back up his bravery, making him the perfect person to assume the role of the Hero of Time. At times I forget that this is suppose to be a much younger version of Link, almost as if he’s grown up over the course of his adventure despite his appearance never changing. To this day, this still my favorite representation of the character and it really bugs me that later games in the series would have Link go back to being a mute piece of wood.

The rest of the characterization is no slouch either. You meet a lot of different characters over the course of the game and the majority of them are well written, creatively designed and extremely likeable. The standouts for me include Link’s sister Aryel and a bird girl named Meldi. My favorite character apart from Link though is Tetra. When we first meet Tetra, she appears to be a selfish b**** but quickly proves that she does have some humanity when she agrees to help Link upon realizing that it was her fault Link’s sister was kidnapped. In a similar fashion to Link, she developes over the course of the game and soon learns that she plays a bigger part in all of this than she initially thought…..and I won’t say anymore than that. The only character who I was a little disappointed with going back to this game was with Ganon. He’s not bad mind you but he doesn’t seem to be as big a threat as he was in the previous games……which actually makes sense. The reason Ganon was so powerful in Ocarina of Time was because he managed to get his hands on the Triforce. Here, he’s trying to get his hands on it again and thus isn’t as powerful as he was before. Still, it’s a little jarring to see a character who was able to blow away Link with the wave of a hand prior to getting the triforce suddenly having to resort to dueling Link with swords. He does prove to be a powerful opponent in that kind of fight though so we do get that badass duel we saw at Space World.

That’s only a small nitpick though. I just have way too much fun playing through this game everytime I pick it up.

10/10

Graphics & Sound

I’ve found the graphics in Wind Waker to be very divisive amongst fans. There are some who love the game for it’s artistic sensibilities while others feel the colorful and somewhat childish nature of the style conflicts with serious tone of the game. Personally, I really love the way this game looks. Though the character designs look a little childish, their simple designs allow for a lot of expression. Their movements also feel really natural where as in Ocarina of TIme and Majora’s Mask, they looked kind of stiff. My favorite aspect of the game though are the colors, which are just gorgeous. They are bright, vibrant and used in a very artistic manner. I love how when you are in a friendly situation, the colors are bright and friendly while more sinister moments are highlighted be harsh shadows and dangerous looking colors. It’s just a gorgeous looking game and it’s greatest strength is how timeless it.  The game looks just as amazing now as when I first played it several years ago and when they rereleased it on Wii U, they screwed it up by trying to update it. That should be a testament to how good this game looks.

The sound design is great. The game still lacks legit voice acting but each character seems to have their own unique sound to give you a sense of what they would sound like if they did talk. The sound effects: awesome. I love slaying enemies in this game because of that wonderful sound effect you get when you do on top of a rift in the music. Speaking of the music, it’s great as well, mostly due to the benefit of CD based technology. With this comes very clean music that really amps up the action on screen.

This is simply a stunning game. The best the Gamecube has to offer, bar none.

10/10

Gameplay

Wind Waker drops the at times overly complex design of Majora’s Mask and goes back to a structure similar to Ocarina of Time. You have a large overworld to explore with side missions to partake in, treasures to find and dungeons to conquer. Within the dungeons you will find more dangerous enemies, useful items and massive bosses that will require you to make use of all the skills you used in the dungeon to defeat them. It works really well, about as well as it did in Ocarina of Time and it mixes things up with the new setting.

As opposed to getting around via horseback or on foot, Link must now sail across the sea on a boat. A big part of this is manipulating the direction of the wind, which is very easy through the use of the titular Wind Waker. Some have said that the Great Sea is a boring overworld because you spend so much time traveling across it and that there is very little to do….which I never understood. There are lots of islands to visit, there are enemy vessels to plunder and treasure to find. Let’s also not forget the sea life which includes Sharks and giant squids. So yeah, I really enjoy the great sea though that might just be my preference for the ocean as opposed to the open fields of Hyrule.

In terms of combat, many improvements have been made. For one, the control is much much tighter. Gone are the days of OoT where you are often found yourself taking cheap hits or contending with sluggish controls. In their place is a more precise combat system that feels very natural. They’ve also added to the combat mechanics with the addition of the counter system. If you stand your ground and wait for an enemy to attack, you will get a brief button prompt. If you are quick enough, Link will combat roll around or leap over an enemy to deliver a powerful counter attack. It’s a satisfying mechanic and towards the end of the game, it becomes instrumental in defeating stronger foes such as the Darknuts who wear armor that can only be removed by striking behind them.

The dungeons in this game are also really cool. While there are a few themes that are recycled from the previous game, there are a couple of standouts like the Tower of Heaven and the Dark Temple. One thing that they all have in common though is that they are designed in a manner that makes progression through them seamless where is OoT, you where often spinning your wheels. Top it off with some fun new toys like the grappling Hook and Deku Leaf and you got what I consider to be the perfection of the Ocarina of Time formula.

Well designed structure, smooth controls and fun level design makes for one of the best action adventure games I have ever played.

10/10

Difficulty

A common complaint levied towards this game is that it’s too easy……which I never understood. Yeah the dungeons are easier to progress through but that’s not because they made the game easier, it’s just that they are designed in a more competent manner. That’s not to say that the whole game was competently designed though. There are two sections of the game that aren’t all great. The first one is Link’s initial intrusion into the Forsaken Fortress, which sees him separated from his sword and forced to use stealth. Given my experience with the stealth genre and how many times I have played this game, I’m able to get through this section pretty easily but I remember when I first played the game and having so much trouble with this part. It was a bad first impression and today whenever I lend the game to someone to play for the first time, I have to insist that they force themselves through this section. The other section I really don’t care for is the hunt for the triforce. Throughout most of the game, you are given just enough direction so that you never find yourself spinning your wheels…..then you get to this point. It took me forever to figure out what I needed to do here and when I finally did, it still took forever. These days I can breeze through this section like it’s nothing which is more than I can say for something like the Artifact Hunt in Metroid Prime. If you know what you are doing, you shouldn’t have a problem and if you are like me you might enjoy the chance to explore the great sea but if it’s your first time, look up what you are suppose to do to keep the ball rolling.

8/10

Content

You’ll definitely be in for the long haul with this one. On your initial playthrough, Wind Waker will clock in at about 15 to 20 hours, with a little more if you wish to complete all the side objectives. You even get a nice little bonus in the form of being able to play through the whole game again with Link’s original cloths, which I prefer the look of compared to the traditional green tunic and hat.

10/10

Verdict

It’s been over ten years since I first played Wind Waker and though I will admit that this isn’t the best game in the series (no I do not consider Ocarina of Time to be the best one damn it), this is still my go to game in the series. The story is excellent, the presentation is outstanding and it plays like a dream. It just barely misses a perfect score from me because of those two frustrating sections I mentioned in the Difficulty Section but aside from that, this is a superb game and one I would play any day of the week. I’d also recommend this as the a good starting point for those who have never played a Zelda game. It might not be as groundbreaking as OoT, but it’s simply a better game. I’m give The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker a 9.6 out of 10.

Real quick, let’s take a look at the HD Remake of the game for the Wii U. In a similar fashion to the 3DS remakes of OoT and MM, this is a graphical remake of the game complete with slight interface tweaks to make for a better experience……and I think it’s the inferior version of the game. For starters, they messed up the graphics with poorly implemented bloom effects that wash out the colors and make it appear as though vaseline has been rubbed all over the screen. I get the sense they were trying to replicate the look haze but it just looks ugly. Seriously, what was wrong with the graphics in the original? Just smooth out the models and beef up the aspect ratio and call it a day. You don’t need to try and make it look better, hell, you CAN’T make it better. The other thing that bugs are the controls. Though I do like that all the menus are displayed on gamepad and intractable through the touchscreen, I don’t like that you have to aim certain items with motion controls. In the Gamecube version, you aim with the left analog stick but in the Wii U, that allows you to strafe. You can still aim with the right analogue stick but I’m so use to holding the button down that I forget I can just push it to bring up the cross hair and then move my thumb to the right stick. That being said though, this isn’t a bad version of the game by any means and it does trim some of the fat during the Triforce Hunt but aside from that, I feel they made the mistake of trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. As a result, I recommend playing the Gamecube version instead.

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